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>The Linux System Administrator's Guide: Version 0.7</TH
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><H1
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>Chapter 6. Using Disks and Other Storage Media</A
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><DL
><DT
><B
>Table of Contents</B
></DT
><DT
>6.1. <A
HREF="x975.html"
>Two kinds of devices</A
></DT
><DT
>6.2. <A
HREF="x1001.html"
>Hard disks</A
></DT
><DT
>6.3. <A
HREF="x1042.html"
>Floppies</A
></DT
><DT
>6.4. <A
HREF="x1057.html"
>CD-ROMs</A
></DT
><DT
>6.5. <A
HREF="x1073.html"
>Tapes</A
></DT
><DT
>6.6. <A
HREF="x1079.html"
>Formatting</A
></DT
><DT
>6.7. <A
HREF="x1139.html"
>Partitions</A
></DT
><DD
><DL
><DT
>6.7.1. <A
HREF="x1139.html#AEN1144"
>The MBR, boot sectors and partition table</A
></DT
><DT
>6.7.2. <A
HREF="x1139.html#AEN1168"
>Extended and logical partitions</A
></DT
><DT
>6.7.3. <A
HREF="x1139.html#AEN1181"
>Partition types</A
></DT
><DT
>6.7.4. <A
HREF="x1139.html#AEN1269"
>Partitioning a hard disk</A
></DT
><DT
>6.7.5. <A
HREF="x1139.html#AEN1293"
>Device files and partitions</A
></DT
></DL
></DD
><DT
>6.8. <A
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>Filesystems</A
></DT
><DD
><DL
><DT
>6.8.1. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1300"
>What are filesystems?</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.2. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1316"
>Filesystems galore</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.3. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1384"
>Which filesystem should be used?</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.4. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1389"
>Creating a filesystem</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.5. <A
HREF="x1298.html#MOUNT-AND-UMOUNT"
>Mounting and unmounting</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.6. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1563"
>Checking filesystem integrity with 
<B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>fsck</B
></A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.7. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1586"
>Checking for disk errors with <B
CLASS="COMMAND"
>badblocks</B
></A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.8. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1600"
>Fighting fragmentation</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.9. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1610"
>Other tools for all filesystems</A
></DT
><DT
>6.8.10. <A
HREF="x1298.html#AEN1625"
>Other tools for the ext2 filesystem</A
></DT
></DL
></DD
><DT
>6.9. <A
HREF="x1657.html"
>Disks without filesystems</A
></DT
><DT
>6.10. <A
HREF="x1675.html"
>Allocating disk space</A
></DT
><DD
><DL
><DT
>6.10.1. <A
HREF="x1675.html#AEN1677"
>Partitioning schemes</A
></DT
><DT
>6.10.2. <A
HREF="x1675.html#AEN1697"
>Space requirements</A
></DT
><DT
>6.10.3. <A
HREF="x1675.html#AEN1704"
>Examples of hard disk allocation</A
></DT
><DT
>6.10.4. <A
HREF="x1675.html#AEN1734"
>Adding more disk space for Linux</A
></DT
><DT
>6.10.5. <A
HREF="x1675.html#AEN1738"
>Tips for saving disk space</A
></DT
></DL
></DD
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><A
NAME="AEN957"
></A
><BLOCKQUOTE
CLASS="BLOCKQUOTE"
><P
><SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"On a clear disk you can seek forever.
	"</SPAN
></P
></BLOCKQUOTE
><P
>When you install or upgrade your system, you need to do a
        fair amount of work on your disks.  You have to make filesystems on
	your disks so that files can be stored on them and reserve
        space for the different parts of your system.</P
><P
>This chapter explains all these initial activities.  Usually,
        once you get your system set up, you won't have to go through the
	work again, except for using floppies.  You'll need to come back to
	this chapter if you add a new disk or want to fine-tune your disk usage.</P
><P
>&#13;        </P
><P
>The basic tasks in administering disks are:

	<P
></P
><UL
><LI
><P
>        Format your disk.  This does various things to prepare it for use,
	such as checking for bad sectors.  (Formatting is nowadays
	not necessary for most hard disks.)</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>        Partition a hard disk, if you want to use it for several activities
	that aren't supposed to interfere with one another. One reason for
	partitioning is to store different operating systems on the same
	disk.  Another reason is to keep user files separate from system
	files, which simplifies back-ups and helps protect the system files
	from corruption.
	</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>        Make a filesystem (of a suitable type) on each disk or partition.
	The disk means nothing to Linux until you make a filesystem; then
	files can be created and accessed on it.
	</P
></LI
><LI
><P
>        Mount different filesystems to form a single tree structure, either
	automatically, or manually as needed.  (Manually mounted filesystems
	usually need to be unmounted manually as well.)
	</P
></LI
></UL
>

	</P
><P
><A
HREF="memory-management.html"
>Chapter 7</A
> contains information
	about virtual memory and disk caching, of which you also need
	to be aware when using disks.</P
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